Christmas Decorations

The Ladies Auxiliary of the Hagerstown Rescue Mission will hold a holiday bazaar Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Trinity Center on Walnut Street in Hagerstown. The event will include homemade soups, hot sandwiches, cakes, pies and candy along with Christmas decorations, crafts and collectibles and jewelry.

"Today is April 1. It is time for everybody to now take down their Christmas decorations. " - Maugansville Already? This was just an April Fool's Day joke, right? "I should be as lucky as the caller complaining about their neighbors with their Christmas decorations still up. My neighbor still has her Halloween scarecrow up, as well as the pumpkins, which are now pretty putrefied - still sitting in their front yard. I would love to see Christmas decorations. " - Hagerstown See, here's someone who does want to see Christmas decorations now. "I'm calling in regards to the person on Wednesday, March 25 Mail Call who is saying about the coffee can exhausts and people's loud stereos and stuff, riding around Hagerstown, and how there's a difference between people with their little import cars and true car enthusiasts.

WILLIAMSPORT - Williamsport's annual Santa Claus/Christmas Parade will be Sunday, Dec. 3, beginning at 4 p.m. Santa will lead the parade. A ceremony lighting the Christmas decorations in Byron Memorial Park will follow. Those wishing to participate in the parade may call Town Hall at 301-223-7711 and ask for Mayor James G. McCleaf II. Santa Claus will visit Williamsport from Dec. 17 through Dec. 20 in Byron Memorial Park at the Community Building from 6 to 8 p.m. The Williamsport Area Food Bank will also be collecting food donations at the Community Building on those same days and hours.

julieg@herald-mail.com "Christmas already?" If you haven't said or thought it, you've probably heard someone else say it when stores started putting out their Christmas displays during the summer. "You can't enjoy the holiday that's upcoming because they're so far ahead on holidays two or three down the road," said Linda Smith, 55, of Boonsboro. "Every year it seems to get earlier and earlier and earlier. It ruins it. " Smith was recently found browsing a Christmas display in a local store because, she said, she was afraid the store would no longer have what she wanted if she waited until the traditional Christmas shopping season.

After years of collecting soft drink can tabs, the girls from Brownie Troop 733 and Cadette Troop 652 finally got to see just how those tabs are put to good use. Girl Scouts from both troops collected more than 60 pounds of tabs over the last several years. On Dec. 9, the girls and their families took a trip to the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey, Pa., to drop off their tabs. While there, they received a detailed tour of the Ronald McDonald House and visited Hersheypark to see the Christmas decorations.

Editor's note - Please be as brief as possible when calling Mail Call, The Daily Mail's reader call-in line. Mail Call is not staffed on weekends or holidays so it is best to call Mail Call during the week. The Mail Call number is 301-791-6236. You are welcome to leave a recorded message on any subject, but some calls will be screened out. Here are some of the calls we have received lately: "If the Hagerstown Suns have an average of 1,500 people at a ball game, there are approximately 137,000 people in the area who could attend the game.

Residents' Christmas bazaar at Coffman home A residents' Christmas bazaar will be from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, at Coffman Nursing Home, 1304 Pennsylvania Ave., Hagerstown. Includes homemade and donated items. Proceeds benefit the home's activity department. Call 301-733-2914. Stroke and osteoporosis screening is Dec. 14 Residents living in and around Hagerstown can be screened to reduce their risk of having a stroke or bone fracture.

o Read more Kristy Smith columns at washingtoncountyliving.com Greetings, neighbors I trust you are all back in to a routine for fall by now. The best part: It's football season. The BHS Warriors kickoff the season Friday at home at 7 p.m. Town festival on the horizon Also, right around the corner is Boonesborough Days. Plan now to get your Christmas shopping started Saturday, Sept. 11, and Sunday, Sept. 12, at Shafer Park. You can park at Trinity Lutheran Church and make a donation to the youth group in the process.

Good morning, dear friends. I trust that your Thanksgiving holiday was blessed. A plentiful amount of food and family were enjoyed and cherished. Christmas decorations are up and shining. Get your outside decorations up in the next two weeks so that you are ready for Olde Tyme Christmas on Friday, Dec. 9. Residents in town should have found luminaria kits dropped off at their homes over the weekend. Instructions for setup and use are included in the bags. Olde Tyme Christmas runs from 6 to 9 p.m., so be sure to have the candles set up and glowing by 6 p.m. Salon raises $1,100 for shelter Linda Sue Renner, owner of Universal Hair Studios, LLC hosted Cuttin' for Critters, a benefit for the Humane Society of Washington County.

Robert and Stella Mumma bought ribbons on a "memory tree" Friday at Rose Hill Cemetery in honor of their daughter, who died last month, and then marched with about 400 other people to Hagerstown City Park to watch as Christmas decorations were lighted. The event has become an annual tradition. Rose Hill Cemetery has sponsored its event for 11 years now in conjunction with the city. It was a first for the Mummas, who will celebrate their first Christmas without daughter Sue Ann Mumma Deneen.

“I have to agree 100 percent with the Washington County caller, about the 3-month-old puppy being shot. It seemed a little hard to believe, that a 3-month-old puppy would be vicious.” - Smithsburg “Suggestion for next Christmas: You have had butterflies and hot air balloons in downtown Hagerstown. Why not have some decorations made to hang from the light poles, like we had years ago? This could be done in the same manner as the butterflies and balloons. It sure would beat the advertising signs hung on the poles now. While I'm at it, why not add some color lights instead of all white lights?

Editor's note: This column originally was published in 2008. Each year as I make my way through torn wrapping paper, trying not to step on little pieces of toys that are being assembled, the same thought comes to mind. Now what? We've been preparing for this day for months, and it's over all too quickly. Is it possible to capture the joy of anticipation and savor it all year long? It's hard to imagine keeping the Christmas spirit going, especially because energy levels and bank accounts need some time to recover.

The sounds of Christmas will ring with the St. James Brass Quintet and the Haven Lutheran Church Senior Choir Saturday at 5 p.m. at Haven Lutheran Church, 1035 Haven Road. The yearly concert is a must, featuring Christmas carols and old-time favorites. As attendees leave the concert, they will be treated to the warm glow of the luminarias at Rest Haven Cemetery next door. The concert is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served following the concert. For more information, call 301-733-5056.

It was a busy day for local shopping centers Monday as shoppers hit the stores to redeem Christmas gift cards, exchange items and take advantage of after-Christmas clearance sales. At Valley Mall, crowds gathered around discounted Christmas decorations and 50-percent-off 2012 calendars; moms waited as their preteen daughters tried on clothes; and men carried shopping bags for bargain-hunting wives. Tim Marshall, 50, of Cearfoss took a break on a bench while his wife shopped. “She buys now for next Christmas,” he said.

You can only see a small slice of the room from a doorway at the end of a hall. Yet, in that narrow aperture, flashes of color attract the eye. There are deep blues, shimmering silvers, vibrant pinks and golds. At first glance, they are typical Christmas ornaments adorning a tall evergreen tree. But there is nothing typical about these glass balls. Each has had a centuries-long journey - from Europe across the Atlantic to immigrant homes, antique shops and now The Miller House Museum.

Good morning, dear friends. I trust that your Thanksgiving holiday was blessed. A plentiful amount of food and family were enjoyed and cherished. Christmas decorations are up and shining. Get your outside decorations up in the next two weeks so that you are ready for Olde Tyme Christmas on Friday, Dec. 9. Residents in town should have found luminaria kits dropped off at their homes over the weekend. Instructions for setup and use are included in the bags. Olde Tyme Christmas runs from 6 to 9 p.m., so be sure to have the candles set up and glowing by 6 p.m. Salon raises $1,100 for shelter Linda Sue Renner, owner of Universal Hair Studios, LLC hosted Cuttin' for Critters, a benefit for the Humane Society of Washington County.

If there is such a thing as a collecting gene, the Kirsche family has it. Gretchen Kirsche collects angels. Her husband, Max, has an affinity for Santas, and 16-year-old daughter Cassie hasn't met a snowman she doesn't love. "Combined, we probably have over 100 pieces of themed figurines, ornaments, dolls and decorations," Gretchen Kirsche said. But they're always searching for one more, "especially if it's unique and one of a kind. " In most cases, she said, that means handmade.